Page 107 of Unexpectedly In Love

“Excuse me, Kayla, fix your face before I fix it for you.” I grab my bag and make my way into the store.

Twenty minutes later, I don’t hear a peep from anyone. As I walk through the snack aisle, I see Chance poking Kayla, showing her a bag of chips. She shakes her head at Chance. Just because I had a grueling day doesn’t mean my children must have a hard day.

“Okay, you can all pick three snacks and bring them back to the basket. You have ten seconds. One…”

My children scramble, all picking up their snacks.

“Thanks, Mom.”

“Thanks, Mom.”

“Thanks, Mom.”

The four of us walk back to the cashiers as she begins to check my groceries. I take my purse out and get my card ready.

“That would be three hundred and twenty-eight dollars and fifty-two cents.” She smiles as she passes lollipops to my kids.

I tap my card and place it back into my purse.

“Um, it’s saying declined,” the cashier whispers.

“What?” I take my card out and tap it again. This time the worddeclineappears, and the light above her register flashes.

Did she just call the manager on me?

“By the way, we don’t take EBT here,” she says as she rolls her eyes.

“Mom, what’s EBT?” Finn asks while holding on to the side of the basket.

“Legit money from the government. But no, we don’t have one.”

I dig into my wallet and tap another. That card declines too. I look back, and of course, there is a line of a million people waiting to cash.

“I don’t understand?” I rub my card against my clothing and tap again.

EHHH! This time, a noise booms through Charleswood.

“Ma’am, if you have no money, please stand to the side,” the cashier says as her manager comes to her rescue.

“Is there a problem here?” the manager asks. Her bun is slicked back tight, and her nose flares as she looks at me and my kids.

“Mom, are we poor?” Kayla asks in horror.

“What? No. Something is wrong with my card.”

“Ma’am, you are holding up the line. Please, kindly leave or we will have to call the authorities.”

I choke my words back. “Call the police? I have money.”

The manager picks up the phone to dial. Just like that, my day has gone from bad to worse. I can feel my tears brimming at the side of my eyes.

“Sir, what are you doing?” the cashier asks, as a hand pushes my hand away and taps the machine paying for all my groceries.

I look back only to see a tall, gorgeous man. I chuckle nervously as I look up into his face.

He has striking, deep set eyes and well-defined facial features, which comes from his obvious Japanese ancestry. He smells expensive, like the samples in those fashion magazines.

“Hey, Roise-Posey, long time no see.” He smiles, and my heart drops, and all I can think is…

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